'Tarsal' is a medical and anatomical word about the ankle. As an adjective it means 'of the ankle' or 'belonging to the group of small bones in the ankle' — a doctor talks about the tarsal bones, a tarsal fracture, tarsal tunnel syndrome (a pinched nerve in the ankle, the ankle's cousin of carpal tunnel syndrome in the wrist). As a noun, 'a tarsal' is one of those seven small bones sitting between the leg bones and the long bones of the foot; together they make the back half of your foot work as a hinge and a spring. Two things a learner should know. First, this is not an everyday word. Nobody says 'my tarsal hurts' — they say 'my ankle hurts.' You meet 'tarsal' in a clinic, a textbook, a physiotherapy report, or a sports injury news story. Second, there is a completely separate anatomical use: the tarsal plate is the stiff strip of tissue inside your eyelid that gives it its shape. Same root, different body part — the old meaning of the root was closer to 'flat surface' than to 'ankle', which is why an eyelid and an ankle can share a name.

跗骨的、足踝的；（名詞）跗骨。醫學、復健、運動傷害的用語，日常抱怨腳痛不會用這個字。tarsal tunnel syndrome 是「跗骨隧道症候群」，跟手腕的腕隧道症候群 carpal tunnel 對應。